VacationSelector
The Explanada de España, Alicante
AlicanteThe Explanada de España
The old Tampa Bay Hotel across the river, Tampa
TampaThe old Tampa Bay Hotel across the river

Photos: Alicante by Emilio Sánchez Hernández, Pexels License; Tampa by Ken Lund, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Alicante or Tampa?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Alicante for

  • getting around
  • prices
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Alicante’s own page.

Choose Tampa for

  • families
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Tampa’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Alicante 82, Tampa 70: Alicante leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Alicante 67, Tampa 57: Alicante leads by 10 points.
Culture & sights. Alicante 46, Tampa 42: Alicante leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Alicante 60, Tampa 52: Alicante leads by 8 points.
Nature & outdoors. Alicante 63, Tampa 55: Alicante leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Alicante 72, Tampa 54: Alicante leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Alicante 68, Tampa 78: Tampa leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Alicante 66, Tampa 22: Alicante leads by 44 points.
Shopping & style. Alicante 44, Tampa 40: Alicante leads by 4 points.
Affordability. Alicante 60, Tampa 40: Alicante leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Alicante 37, Tampa 47: Tampa leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Alicante 40, Tampa 30: Alicante leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Alicante and Tampa.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Alicante
Best match
59match

Wins on getting around and prices with your weighting.

Tampa
49match

Wins on families and live music and the arts with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Alicante in July

30 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
3 mmrain in the month
11 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Tampa in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
197 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
30 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
AlicanteTampa

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Alicante: 1991-2020 normals, Alicante (2.8 km from centre). Tampa: 1991-2020 normals, Tampa International Airport (7.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureAlicanteTampa
Official languageSpanish-
CurrencyEuro (EUR)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsCF230 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+1, UTC+2 in summerUTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency number112911
Elevation3 m30 m
Main airportAlicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport (ALC)10 km from centre126 non-stop destinationsTampa International Airport (TPA)8 km from centre101 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year13 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureAlicanteTampa
City population366,221384,959
People per km²1,819848
Museums within 10 km86
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km20
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months8 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Alicante or Tampa somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Tourism statistics from Eurostat, © European Union, reused under CC BY 4.0. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.